For Jamie Isaacs, the torment began in second grade at Wenonah Elementary School. A group of girls would repeatedly yank her hair and stab her with sharpened pencils. Sachem Central School District officials did nothing to stop the abuse, her family alleges.

Carla, a senior at Half Hollow Hills High School, returns home exhausted after extra help with her academic studies, a rigorous track practice and an SAT review class. It is 10 p.m., and while most kids her age are going to bed, she is only starting to dig into the tower of homework assignments on her desk. But rather than succumb to fatigue, she works until her essays are finished, and flawless, determined not to sacrifice a point on her homework average and consequently damage her GPA.